Apple joins Fair Labor Association

Published 4:00 am, Saturday, January 14, 2012

Photo: Kin Cheung, AP

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FILE - In this file photo taken Saturday, May 7, 2011, local and mainland Chinese university students, dressed as the Foxconn workers, hold mock iPads with a skeleton print outside an Apple Premium Reseller shop in Hong Kong. An explosion that occurred onMay 20, 2011, at one of two factories that make Apple's new iPad 2 highlights the risks of a global manufacturing strategy that has cut costs but concentrates production in a few locations. less

FILE - In this file photo taken Saturday, May 7, 2011, local and mainland Chinese university students, dressed as the Foxconn workers, hold mock iPads with a skeleton print outside an Apple Premium Reseller ... more

Photo: Kin Cheung, AP

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Demonstrators display portraits of Terry Gou (from L to R), chief of Foxconn; K.Y. Lee, chief of BenQ and Apple chief executive Steve Jobs, during a rally outside an exhibition hall in Taipei on June 1, 2010. Scuffles broke out in Taiwan's capital as protesters alleging labour abuses by IT giants including Foxconn tried to enter a venue where President Ma Ying-jeou was opening Asia's biggest technology fair. The activists shouting "Capitalists kill people" and holding placards and pictures of Foxconn chief Terry Gou fought with uniformed police as they tried to deliver a letter to Ma while he launched Computex Taipei. less

Demonstrators display portraits of Terry Gou (from L to R), chief of Foxconn; K.Y. Lee, chief of BenQ and Apple chief executive Steve Jobs, during a rally outside an exhibition hall in Taipei on June 1, 2010. ... more

Photo: Patrick Lin, AFP/Getty Images

Apple joins Fair Labor Association

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Apple made several moves Friday to address working conditions in its suppliers' factories, including an announcement that it had joined the Fair Labor Association.

The association, which was founded in 1999 and is based in Washington, works to end sweatshop conditions in factories around the world.

Apple has faced criticism for its factory conditions in Asia. This week, National Public Radio's "This American Life" ran an adapted version of Mike Daisey's monologue "The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs," in which he describes the often brutal working conditions he found on visits to Chinese factories.

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And Foxconn, an Asian supplier that makes electronics for Apple, Microsoft and Dell, among others, faced a revolt this week when hundreds of workers who make Microsoft Xboxes threatened suicide over lost wages.

"We welcome Apple's commitment to greater transparency and independent oversight, and we hope its participation will set a new standard for the electronics industry," Auret van Heerden, Fair Labor Association president and CEO, said in a statement.

The first technology company to join the labor association, Apple made its announcement the same day it released its annual look at worker safety and factory conditions among its partners. The Supplier Responsibility Progress Report said Apple conducted 229 audits of its partners last year, an 80 percent increase from 2010.

"I have spent a lot of time in factories over this lifetime and we are clearly leading in this area," he told the paper.

Still, the company's audits did find labor violations. Apple's partners agree that employees will not work more than 60 hours a week, but audits found that suppliers complied with that requirement only 38 percent of the time. In 93 facilities, more than half of the employees worked more than 60 hours.

In response, Apple started tracking hours at 110 facilities and hired a consultant to train managers on factory planning to avoid excessive labor.

The report found that almost half the audited companies didn't pay overtime properly and that 56 facilities had no procedures to prevent discrimination against pregnant women.

Last year, Apple initiated a new environmental auditing program, completing 14 detailed audits of its suppliers. It also made a push to crack down on underage labor and says it found no instances of child workers at any of its final assembly plants.

In addition to working with managers to improve worker conditions, Apple has developed a program to teach workers finance, computer skills and English. The Supplier Employee Education and Development program, known as SEED, has been used by more than 60,000 workers, Apple reported. In China, the courses can be used to help workers earn associate degrees at Chinese universities.

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